


Broken

by Manni26



Category: Stranger Things (2016), Stranger Things (TV 2016), Stranger Things - Fandom, Stranger Things Season 3 - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Broken Bones, Denile, F/F, F/M, Jonathan’s a mess, Love, M/M, Season 3, Younger brother stepping up, lonnie byers - Freeform, mind flayer - Freeform, semi-original
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-28 22:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manni26/pseuds/Manni26
Summary: The gang just gets out of the hospital, watches the Mind Flayer seep down into a filthy drain, and notice one of the strongest people they know might be a little broken.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers & Jim Hopper, Jonathan Byers & Joyce Byers, Jonathan Byers & Will Byers, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers & Joyce Byers
Comments: 11
Kudos: 33





	1. Brothers & Bruises

They watched as the mind flayer- bloody, gory, awful monster slid and slipped down the grate in front of the hospital, leaving behind a trail of gelatinous slime.

“Is everyone okay?” Lucas questioned, hearing the heavy breathing around him. All eyes turned to Jonathan, who’s head wound was still dripping blood down his sweaty, clammy face. 

He looked like he’d been dragged to hell and back, broken and contorted. Suddenly, he realized everyone was staring at him, his shaking arms going into his pockets as an attempt to hide his physical state. 

“What?” He asked Nancy who’s doe eyes were staring at his disheveled appearance. 

“You look...” She began.

“I’m fine. Really, I’m fine,” he lied, but no one believed him. “Why don’t I drive us back-.”

“You’re in no condition to drive,” Will interrupted. The young man looked at his brother with a fear Jonathan hadn’t seen since their father beat him to a bloody stump four years earlier. 

“Will, I’m fine, okay?” He grabbed the youth and hugged him, leaning a significant amount of his body weight on the teen. 

No one was convinced by his words, but they didn’t have time to argue. Everyone was shaken up, feeling their nerves splitting into a million frayed threads.

“I’ll drive,” Nancy said, breaking the silence. Without further argument, all the teens piled into Mrs. Wheeler’s car and began the trip to the Byer’s house.

The car ride was silent, everyone reflecting on their traumatic experiences only a few minutes prior. How could such things have happened? They’d battled the creatures of the upside down twice before, how could it be back?

Nancy couldn’t stop seeing the face of that beast, it’s teeth hovering over her face, goo dribbling from its mouth onto her hair. It brought her back to a time when...

No.

Not now.

There wasn’t time for that kind of thought. Not when the stakes were so high, not when her boyfriend, the love of her life was silently clutching his side right next to her, clearly in an insurmountable amount of pain. 

Will tried to gaze out the window of the car, but he felt his mind travel back to his brother over and over again. 

Jonathan was bloody, his body twisted in pain but he wouldn’t admit it. Will knew what Jonathan would do, because it’s what he’d always done: he’d pretend he was fine. 

But Will wouldn’t accept that anymore.

He was brought back to a time he thought he could block out forever, a time where their family was broken. 

Joyce worked more shifts than she could handle to try and keep her family afloat and wasn’t around as much as her two young sons needed her. 

Jonathan was thirteen and as quiet and shy as ever. He hid behind his camera, shying away from people, friends, Lonnie.

Lonnie.

He was a monster. Perhaps that’s why Will and Jonathan were so good at fighting monsters from the upside down; they’d been fighting the worst one all their childhood. 

Lonnie was at a point where he hated his family and tried to be around his sons as little as possible which was usually a good thing. He’d threaten to leave, telling them they were worthless pieces of shit. 

Then one day Will came out of his room in the “Will the Wise” robe his mom made him, happily ready to show Jonathan how well their mom matched the costume to his design. 

“Jonathan what do you-,” he began speaking before shockingly seeing Lonnie standing in front of his door. The look in his eyes was cold, dark: drunk.

“What do you think you’re wearing, you fairy?” Lonnie questioned his youngest son, great amounts of anger in his eyes.

“I...uh...mom-.” 

Lonnie pushed Will against the wall, his hands balled into tight fists. 

Jonathan heard the impact from his room, flew off his bed and swung his bedroom door open to see Lonnie in Will’s face.

He had no words to speak before he ripped his drunken father off his brother. 

Will knew how potentially disastrous Jonathan’s actions were. He knew what kind of monster Lonnie was.

Will watched in horror as Lonnie beat Jonathan for twenty minutes, blood pouring from the growing 13 year old’s body. 

Paralyzed with fear, Will did nothing. 

Nothing.

“Everything okay?” Mike questioned, noticing Will off in some far away memory. 

After a moments pause, he spoke. 

“No.” 

...

The crew pulled up to the Byers’ house a few minutes later, the windows totally dark and absent of any life. 

“Your mom’s not home?” Nancy questioned as she turned her head and looked to Jonathan who was biting his lip, holding back pain. 

“I guess not,” he choked out. 

They all exited the car and followed through the unlocked door into the unoccupied house. Max began turning the various lights on as Will grabbed his brother’s arm. 

“What are you doing?” Jonathan questioned as Will began to pull him towards the couch. 

“You need to go sit down,” Will explained, “you look like-.”

“Will, I’m fine.”

“No! No you’re not! Open your eyes, Jonathan, you can barley breath without wincing, you’re still limping, and your pupils are huge! You have a concussion! You-.”

“I’m fine, I promise...” he lied to his little brother. 

Will was done. 

“Really? You’re fine?” He questioned in front of everyone before slapping Jonathan in the ribs. He doubled over in pain, almost in tears from the sharp stabbing feeling spreading through his midsection. 

“What the hell, Will?” Jonathan spat through the pain. Nancy rushed to his side, grabbing him tight in her arms. 

The door to the house swung open, Joyce and Hopper standing in the doorway. 

“What’s going on?” Joyce questioned looking at the troop of teens standing in her living room before noticing Jonathan’s appearance. 

He tried to stand up straight and put on a brave face so as not to make anyone concerned, but he knew his mother could see right through his facade. 

“Oh Jonathan...” she spoke, grave concern in her voice.


	2. Accusations & Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post hospital: drama in the Byers’ house when Hopper disapproves of the way Jonathan handled the events of that night.

“I’m okay, mom,” Jonathan softly spoke from his bed as Joyce ordered him to sit down. Nancy followed into the room with a bowl of water, wash cloth, and ice. 

“You don’t look fine,” Joyce calmly spoke. She knew her son very well: the more upset she got by his physical appearance, the more worried she became, the more Jonathan would try to convince her that he was fine. 

“What happened?” The chief questioned, appearing in the doorway with Will. As Nancy began to wipe Jonathan’s head wound with a wet wash cloth, Will strolled into the room and sat on the bed next to his brother. 

“The mind Flayer is back...it’s making a new army. We went to the hospital to track down Mrs. Driscoll and figure out where all the flayed were going, but we ran into our bosses who were also flayed and we beat them and they dissolved but then became this huge monster that went after Nancy and I know this whole thing sounds crazy,” Jonathan finished, totally out of breath. 

The chief moved into the room further so he was standing directly in front of Jonathan who was tightly clutching his ribs and breathing strangely. 

“Let me get this straight...you went to find this monster, track down where it was going, and you did it all with a group of kids? And you never called me? Never asked for help, endangered six other kid’s lives including my daughter’s, and got your ass kicked on top of that?” Hopper spat in anger. 

“Hopper...” Joyce attempted to diffuse. 

“No Joyce, I want to understand your son’s thought process here. Have I failed to defeat monsters in the past?” Hopper mockingly questioned. 

“How exactly was I supposed to call you, Hopper?” Jonathan defended.

“What do you mean?” Hop tried to act dumb, “call the station.” 

“And how can I do that when you’re out hiking with my mom through the goddamn woods?” 

There was a thick, stale silence in the room. Hopper and Jonathan stared into one another’s eyes to see who would make the next move, but neither one had the words to do it. Will, Nancy, and Joyce looked on as the two men readied for battle. 

“Kid, you don’t know what you’re talking about. And that still doesn’t get you off the hook. What you did-.”

“Why do you care what I did? We’re all safe, we’re all okay! Plus we found out that-.”

“This isn’t some mystery for you to solve, you aren’t a detective, or a cop, or a soldier. You’re a dumb kid who should have called for back up, but was either too stupid or cocky to do so and now look at you! Look at your girlfriend!” 

“That’s enough, Hop!” Joyce growled at the man who was taking out his anger with her out on her son. 

“Is it? Look at him! He’s a goddamn mess all cause he doesn’t know how to keep his head on straight. You’re turning into your old man!” 

The room fell silent. 

If there was one thing Jonathan hated more then monsters, it was his father. To be told he was just like his dad was one of the worst things in the world. His soul burned with anger towards Hopper, his fists balling up tight. 

Joyce stood from her crouched position, kissed Jonathan on his forehead and ushered everyone out of the room. 

“Jonathan, you rest and I’ll be back in to check on you in a few minutes.” Joyce instructed. 

She forced the group of four out of Jonathan’s room, closed his door, and pushed everyone to the living room where she smacked Hopper across the face. 

“Who do you think you are?” Joyce sternly questioned, trying to keep her voice down so Jonathan didn’t hear the fighting, “Why would you ever say that to him?” 

“Because,” Hopper began, “Jonathan has a problem with listening to authority, just like Lonnie! He knows better then to try to take down a monster without us! He put my kid’s life on the line, Will’s, and all these other kids! What’s wrong with you Joyce? He’s out of control!” 

“Please...” Nancy quietly tried to speak. 

“He was only trying to protect them! Do you know how-.” Joyce interrupted. 

“This is exactly something Lonnie would-.”

Loud sobs escaped Nancy’s mouth, her eyes filled with tears and sadness. Joyce rushed to her, cradled her in her arms and stroked her back. 

“It’s okay, Nancy, it’s-.” Joyce attempted to comfort.

“No it’s not! It’s all my fault! All of this! I got Jonathan and I fired from our jobs because I wanted to investigate Mrs. Driscoll. It was all this stupid story, her rats were eating fertilizer, she got sick, and I got us fired. The only reason we were all at that hospital is because I wouldn’t let the story go, and Jonathan got hurt trying to protect me and now all of this and I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m the one who put everyone in danger and I’m so sorry!” She hyperventilated and clutched Joyce. 

“They just...they were so shitty to me. I just...I just wanted to write a story but they wouldn’t stop calling me names and making fun of me and I just...I’m just so sorry.” 

“It’s okay, Nancy,” Joyce comforted, rubbing her hand on Nancy’s back. She walked the teen over to the couch and put her down. 

It had been a long night for everyone: the teens all looked sweaty and exhausted, Nancy was completely drained of all color and energy, and Jonathan was still injured and needed attending to. With all the kids sitting in the living room, Joyce decided to take charge. 

“You know what, guys, we all need to go to bed,” Joyce spoke to the group. 

“I agree,” Hopper chimed in, also trying to take charge. Joyce whipped around to him, looked him dead in the eye, and poked his chest with her finger. 

“Oh not you buddy! Not until you go in and apologize to Jonathan for the shitty things you said!” 

“I am not apologizing! He-.”

“Hopper!” Will yelled at the chief. 

Will was always silent, always respectful, and until that point had always agreed with the Chief. But he knew his brother, and he knew how wrong Hopper was about him. 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t even know Jonathan. He’s nothing like Lonnie,” Will defended his brother. 

“Will, stay out of this!” Joyce tried to argue with her son, not wanting to make the situation worse. 

“No!” Will went off, yelling at his mom and the chief, “you guys have no idea what he’s been through. My brother has defended me against bullies at school, people who call me names, and our monster of a father. I saw him go up against a giant, nasty, bloody, gory monster to save Nancy, and I saw him get beaten to a bloody pulp to defend me against Lonnie. He is nothing like that piece of shit, and I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you two bicker and debate this. There’s a massive monster out there ready to destroy all of us, and you’re arguing like a married couple! Shut up, fix my brother, and let’s take down this thing!”

His outburst was unlike him, but it temporarily stopped the bickering. 

“He’s right,” Mike added, “we have to go after the mind Flayer, and we’re gonna need all the help we can get.” 

...

The group sat together in the living room discussing their plan for taking down the mind Flayer, Hopper and Joyce seeming to get along. Apparently Will’s outburst had shut down any tension in the room, and better yet forced the group to start working together again. 

“Billy is a part of the mind Flayer now,” El spoke. 

“We need to find where he is. If we find Billy, we find the mind Flayer. Then we can kill it,” Mike added. 

“But how are we gonna find Billy?” Joyce asked.

“Eleven. She did it once before,” Max included. 

El took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do. 

Nancy, sitting off in the corner still in her sweaty purple dress, couldn’t get her mind off of Jonathan. Joyce told him to rest, but his pupils were so big, like he had a concussion. Maybe sleeping wouldn’t be a good idea. Could it hurt him?

She couldn’t help but blame herself for the evenings events, couldn’t stop thinking about Jonathan holding his side and limping. What if he wasn’t okay? They were all sitting around making a plan for the mind Flayer but no one was wondering how Jonathan was doing in the room down the hall. 

“Nance?” Mike looked over at his sister who seemed miles away in thought, “did you hear me?” 

She looked at her brother, his shaggy black hair dangling in his big, dark eyes. 

“No,” she quietly replied. 

“Do you think you could...Nance?” He could tell her brain was running at half capacity if that. Her eyes were empty, skin flushed, body covered in goosebumps like she was freezing. 

“Nancy?” Joyce softly spoke to the girl she come to think as her own, “why don’t you go check on Jonathan and lie down for a while?” 

Nancy gazed up at the mother of two, shook her head, and trudged down the hallway. With her heavy hand on the door knob to Jonathan’s room, she twisted the gold hardware and opened the portal. 

Her throat let out a massive scream that immediately alerted the rest of the house’s occupants that something was wrong. 

Hopper flew out of the chair he sat on, and rushed to Nancy’s side to see what was wrong. 

“Son of a bitch!” He growled.

Joyce, Will, Mike, El, Max, and Lucas rushed to the room and saw what they feared:

An empty bed.

An open window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still just playing along with this story. More chapters daily! Comments are much appreciated!


	3. Compassion & Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven has to use her powers in order to find Jonathan, however things get tricky, and personal.

They were all wrong. 

Every one of them.

He was okay, and he would show them by tracking down the mind Flayer himself. If no one would listen to him, then it was his responsibility to go forth and save them. 

After all, he’d seen that thing, fought it too. It was vicious, enormous, and ready to claim more victims. The bloody, gory, oozing monster had terrified enough people.

Jonathan limped through the woods in no particular direction, his mind hazy with adrenaline and pain. Breathing was severely uncomfortable, and he had a cough that wouldn’t quit. The chest pain he had was getting worse by the second, his heart beat fast, shortness of breath increasing. 

His right leg hurt badly, so bad that he was limping and holding onto trees as he trudged by them. But he was determined, stubborn, and strong willed. 

Just like Lonnie Byers. 

Fuck. 

He was nothing like that scum bag, Hopper was wrong. They weren’t even on the same planet, right? He fought the idea that he was the same as his abusive, stubborn, drunk father. 

While walking amongst the trees, Jonathan tripped on a rock and tumbled down a small hill where he laid uncomfortably on his side, his breathing becoming increasingly more uncomfortable. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He heard in the distance. Every little microscopic cell of energy in his body forced his eyes open to see where the sound was coming from. 

Fireworks.

...

“Where would he have gone?” Max questioned the group back at the Byers’ house. 

Everyone stood silent, thinking of places that might stand out. 

“Castle Byers, maybe?” Mike suggested to Will, who looked worried and angry all at the same time. 

“No, he’d expect we would look there.” Will replied. 

“He went after the mind Flayer,” Hopper declared, moving towards the window, “he said we had to go find it.” 

Again, silence. 

“I can find him,” Eleven spoke, breaking the silence. 

Hopper turned from the window to see his daughter in the doorway of the room. His face looked pained and guilty, like he knew the whole situation was his fault. Did the kid leave because of what Hopper said? 

The truth was, Hopper only said what he did to Jonathan because he was frightened. Seeing the teen bruised, bloody, and broken scared the living shit out of him. He’d known Jonathan since he was eleven years old, seen him grow into an intelligent, self-aware young man. There were a lot of qualities Jonathan had that Hopper saw in himself. 

He thought if he told Jonathan he was like Lonnie he’d stop fighting, shut up, and do as he was told. It seemed to have the opposite affect, however. 

“No,” Hopper told his adopted daughter and he left the room, quickly moving to the front door. 

“Where are you going?” Joyce demanded, following close behind. 

“I’m gonna go find him, Joyce. He couldn’t have gotten very far on foot. He’s probably half way down your driveway!” He lied. 

The truth was he had no idea how far away Jonathan was. Sure, he was injured, but he was a determined, strong-willed man who would stop at nothing to save his family. He could be half way to Russia if it meant protecting Joyce, Will, and Nancy. 

Joyce’s eyes, decorated with lines of worry, appeared to contain mountains of anxiety and worry when he mentioned Jonathan being injured. She’d been through so much. 

“Please,” Joyce quietly begged the chief, “Please, just stay here and listen to El. Don’t go out there and wonder around in the middle of no where...we need you...” It was never easy for Joyce to admit that she needed someone, but she couldn’t hold the words back. 

Jim looked her in those morose, shaded eyes. She was so much stronger than he ever knew or gave her credit for. She lived through an abusive husband, raised two boys all on her own, found her son in an alternate dimension, got a demon out of him, and dealt with the death of her boyfriend. Now, her son was hurt and out in the world and she needed Hop. She needed him. 

“Fine,” He chocked out, plopping himself on the living room couch next to Mike who held his cold, crying sister. 

“El’s gonna find him,” Mike tried to comfort Nancy. 

Max turned on the radio to frequency 102.3. 

Will grabbed one of the only photos of Jonathan- when he was a little boy with fat cheeks and bright blonde hair. 

Joyce stood nervously next to Eleven, hoping and praying her son was okay. 

With a bowl of water next to her and a blindfold over her brown eyes the size of saucers, El turned the world around her off in order to search for the lost teen. 

...

Blackness everywhere. 

El walked barefoot through her dark, frigid world. 

“Jonathan?” She called out, the rest of the family could hear her words through the radio. 

She cautiously walked, calling his name over and over again. 

“Jonathan? Where are you?” 

The blackness around her was overwhelming; it seemed as though no living, breathing being could be around.

Then she saw him. 

Lying on the blackened, wet ground in a heap, she ran to him, calling his name. 

“Found...found him,” El spoke to her family, their minds relieved. 

“Where is he?” Nancy begged, her heart racing. 

Eleven sprinted to his body, touching his face and noticing how cold his skin felt. His breathing was shallow, lips turning a light shade of blue. 

There were no clues to where he was, and with him being unconscious, El couldn’t exactly ask him; not the way she was normally able to. She’d have to go deeper, get into his head. 

“Where is he?” Nancy questioned again, this time pushing Mike off of her and sitting forward on the couch. 

“I don’t...I don’t know. He isn’t awake. Cold.” 

Nancy panicked and shook violently. Her heart rate increased, breathing quickened like she was going to have an anxiety attack. 

“El, can you go in further? You know, like-.” Mike suggested before El interrupted him with a simple ‘yes’. 

Getting into Jonathan’s mind meant El needed to focus hard, extremely hard. With her eyes closed and mind zeroed in on him, her world of blackness transformed into the Byers’ house.

“House,” El spoke to the group, vaguely describing the image in Jonathan’s mind. 

She walked around the empty home, looking for any signs of life. 

“Jonathan?” She called out, the eeriness of the lack of people creeping into her mind. 

She went to his room, but he didn’t occupy it. She strolled to Will’s room, Joyce’s, the bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen. Where could he be? Why was his mind thinking of an empty house? Was he that far gone that his mind couldn’t even play out a cohesive thought? 

El opened the kitchen door to the backyard where she spotted the small tool shed she and Mike had once gone to make-out in. 

In the darkness of the night, a small light illuminated the cracks under the door and in the walls. A terrified, young scream came from the shed, one that she could identify as Will. 

The group heard the scream through the radio and Will sank back in his seat. He knew exactly where Jonathan’s mind was at. 

And it wasn’t good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really just a bridge to the next one that should include more action and story. I hope you enjoy it and as always, feedback is always appreciated! Thanks!


	4. Monsters & Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: graphic!  
El uses her powers to go into Jonathan’s memories and finds some unpleasant baggage most people didn’t know about.

“Stop, please! Please!” El could hear Will’s young voice from outside. As fast as her legs would move, she sprinted towards the shed in the darkness of night. 

The family could hear everything going on through the radio in the room; Will knew the exact moment playing out in Jonathan’s mind. It was an event that they swore never to tell anyone about.

Joyce and Nancy wore the same panicked, fearful looks on their faces. What was going on in Jonathan’s mind? What was El seeing? 

“What is it? What’s happening?” Hopper begged his daughter, falling to the ground to sit next to her. A single tear fell from El’s eyes.

“Shed,” she spoke. In her mind, she swung open the door to the small wooden building to see Will dressed in a costume that appeared to be the early rendition of his ‘Will the Wise’ outfit, crouched in the corner next to the door, screaming and crying. 

“Stop! Please!” He begged while tears poured out of his enormous brown eyes. 

Across the shed she saw a young Jonathan, shirtless, with his face to the wall, and an older man with a thick leather belt in his hand. 

“One. Two. Three,” the older man spoke as he wipped Jonathan in the back with the belt. Each lash left a sore, red and purple mark on his pale white skin. 

“What’s going on?” Joyce pleaded, wanting answers. 

She recognized the voice counting as Lonnie’s. 

“Stop! Please! Stop!” Will cried in El’s mind. She tried to run in and grab Lonnie’s arm- to stop him from hitting Jonathan who didn’t fight back, but her presence had no effect. It was Jonathan’s memory. 

“Stop! Stop it now!” El screamed at the top of her lungs, her tears flowing more. 

“Four. Five. Six,” Lonnie counted on, hitting Jonathan harder with the belt. 

“El! Eleven! What’s going on?” Hopper question again as she screamed more. 

Will couldn’t listen anymore, he could see the whole event play out in his mind; he saw the belt hit his brother on the back, and it was all his fault. 

“What’s going on, baby?” Joyce turned to Will who was uncomfortable by the situation and holding his head in his hands. 

“I just...I can’t...” he tried to speak to his mother as the screams got worse on the radio. 

“Seven. Eight. Nine,” Lonnie counted on, the contact he made on Jonathan harder and more violent. 

“Ten. Eleven. Twelve.” 

El stepped back as she saw Lonnie raise his hand and make contact one final time. 

“Thirteen.” 

“Stop! Stop! He hit him and he won’t stop!” El uncontrollably screamed at the top of her lungs, alerting the entire room of the horrors she was witnessing. 

“Who?” Mike called out, but Will, Joyce, and Hopper all knew who was the monster in the memory. 

“Turn around,” Lonnie ordered young Jonathan, who didn’t immediately oblige, “I said turn around you little fuck!” 

Spinning around to look his father directly in the eye, Jonathan looked tired, weak, yet strong and defiant. 

“That’s what happens when you get in the middle of me disciplining my son. Learn your goddamn lesson, or next time it’ll be double,” he sneered. 

Jonathan stared into his father’s cold, drunken eyes with a confidence El had never seen in him before. He looked like...well, Hopper. 

“You’re a disgrace to the Byers’ name you worthless, ugly piece of shit,” Lonnie sneered before turning around to see young Will hiding in a corner. 

“And you,” he began, “you see what happened to your brother? See what letting someone else pick your battles does?”

Will cried harder and harder. 

“Quit your blubbering you fag,” Lonnie spat as he put his belt back in the loop holes of his jeans and departed the shed. 

Jonathan sank to the ground in a pile of exhaustion, breathing heavily. He closed his tired eyes and exhaled all the hate that he was harboring in his body.

“Jonathan!” Will screamed as he rushed to his brother’s side. 

In the house, everyone sat in silence, averting eye contact. Most everyone knew that Lonnie had been a shit head to Jonathan, Will, and Joyce, but most didn’t know the extent or the horrors they suffered, and no one but Will knew what happened that night. Not Hopper. Not Nancy. Not even Joyce. 

They all felt sick, hearing Will’s pleading for Lonnie to stop, hearing the crack of the belt on Jonathan’s flesh. No one could even imagine what El was seeing, but they needed to find Jonathan. 

“Jonathan!” Will screamed again, running to his brother’s side. El moved further into the shed until she too was sitting with the boys. 

“Are you okay? Are you okay?” Will sobbed into his brother’s bruised shoulder. Jonathan smiled the biggest, bravest grin. 

“I’m fine Will! This is nothing! Remember what he did the last time? This is like a little paper cut!” He tried to comfort the boy who couldn’t stop sobbing. 

“But...but...he hit you so many times. And you’re bleeding! And-.”

“Will, I promise you I’m gonna be fine! How are you? Did he hit you?”

“No. He would have until you...” 

Will wiped his tears away as El observed their interaction, saying nothing, invisible in their moment. 

“Buddy, I’m always gonna be here for you, you know that right? I’m never gonna let anything bad happen, and I’m never gonna let him touch you. Ever. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Jonathan grabbed his brother in his arms and hugged him tight, and El could almost feel Will breath out his fear and take in some of Jonathan’s bravery. 

“I’m so sorry,” Will tried to speak into Jonathan’s chest. 

“No,” Jonathan replied, pushing the kid away, “don’t be sorry. I’m your big brother, my job is to protect you. Now how about you go back into the house and I’ll follow you in a few minutes.” 

Will’s eyes were filled with worry, but he never disobeyed his brother. 

“Okay,” he responded after a moment of thought, “you promise you’re okay?” 

“Yeah buddy, I promise. And Will...let’s not tell mom about this. She’s got enough going on.”

It broke Joyce’s heart to hear her oldest boy say that. Listening to those words over the radio made her eyes burn with bitter tears. How long she put up with Lonnie, made her boys put up with him before he inevitably split and left them with nothing.

“But you’re-.”

“I’m fine, really. Please, can we keep this between us?”

“Sure,” Will said in a guilty breath.

With one more stolen hug, Will stood, and walked out of the shed leaving Jonathan in the corner, and El, observing. 

“Fuck!” Jonathan exclaimed, peeling himself off of the shed wall and feeling the sharp pain in his back. Blood had dripped down his spine and onto his pants and the floor around him. 

“Jonathan?” El spoke. She still didn’t understand her powers all the way, but she had to try and make contact with him, attempt to wake him up. His thoughts hadn’t given her any clues to where he was, and time was running out. 

“Jonathan,” she voiced again, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

His face became confused, there was silence. 

“What’s happening?” Max questioned as the radio fell quiet.

“Shhhh!” Mike ordered, gazing at El’s red, tear stained face. 

“Jonathan,” she called louder to the youth who looked up at her like he could see her.

“Hello?” He spoke suspiciously. 

“Jonathan! Jonathan it’s El! I need you to wake up! I need to see where you are!” 

“I’m asleep?” He questioned. 

“Yeah, you’re dreaming but I need you to wake up.” 

Jonathan breathed deeply. 

“I need to go in and check on Will-.” 

“Jonathan, please, wake up! Show me where you are! Please! Your mom, Will, Nancy, Hop, we want to help.” 

With great effort, Jonathan stood and walked past El, stopping short of the door. El turned around and there, in front of them, stood Billy. Black veins bulged from his face and arms as if they were going to explode. There was a look in his eyes, a foreign look, that made El believe Billy wasn’t in his own body anymore. He’d been completely taken over by the mind Flayer. 

“Billy...” El cautiously spoke.

Max’s hands formed fists after hearing her brother’s name. She loved him, but she knew the evil that had overcome him.

“It was only a matter of time before you came back,” Billy growled at El. 

As El backed further into the shed, Jonathan stood his ground, unafraid of the monster.

“First I’m gonna get your friends,” Billy told El, “then your dad, then your boyfriend, and I’m gonna make you watch as I kill each and every one of them. And then, then I’m gonna get you. I’m gonna-.”

“Leave her alone!” Jonathan hissed at the towering, older man. 

“What are you gonna do about it, you’re half dead! Billy revealed. 

El continued to step back, tears burning her cheeks. 

Jonathan moved in front of the young teen, his fists clenched, ready to fight Billy if need be. It amazed El that even when he was horribly injured, in pain, and exhausted, he was still ready to defend the helpless.

“Please Jonathan,” El begged. 

“There’s nothing you can-.”

Blackness. 

...

“El? El? What’s going on?” Nancy begged the teen, her voice breaking and wavering. 

El spoke no words. 

In her mind, she walked the cold, wet, dark path in front of her until she reached Jonathan’s body once more. 

“We’ve got to get her out of there,” Hopper sounded aggressive. 

“Hold on!” Joyce ordered, but Hopper wasn’t prepared to back down. 

“She’s gonna get hurt! She has to-.”

“Shut up!” El demanded. 

In her mind, El approached Jonathan who miraculously stirred slightly, his exhausted eyes peeking open. 

“Jonathan?” She softly spoke. 

The others could hear her through the radio, and all seemed to exhale at the same time. 

“El?” He weakly replied. 

“El,” Will talked, “Where are you two? Where did he go?”

She looked around the environment she was finally able to see. 

“Woods,” she told the group. 

“What woods?” Lucas asked, “there’s like, thousands of acres of them around here.” 

Jonathan’s breathing was labored, and it was a great effort for him to open his eyes and speak. 

BOOM! BOOM!

El peered into the sky above to see colorful, bright flashing lights above her. 

“Fireworks,” she commented. 

Nancy’s eyes grew wide. 

“I...he...” Nancy stuttered, leaping from her place next to Mike and sprinting to door. 

“Where are you going?” Hopper yelled. 

“I know where he is!” She called as she ran out the door. Will, Joyce, and Lucas followed after her. 

“You did great, kid, now get out of there,” Hopper told El. 

“We’re coming for you,” El comforted Jonathan in the darkness. 

His eyes, heavy with sleep, began to close. In the distance, she could see...something moving closer. It stomped, shaking the ground and crushing trees in the distance. 

It found her. 

“El, El, get out of there! Come on!” Mike called to her, hearing the loud noises through the radio. 

Before another word was said, El ripped the blindfold off her face and breathed heavily. Max flew to her side, hugging her tight and comforting her as she cried. 

“It found me, its coming,” she told Hopper. 

“What? What’s coming?”

“Shadow monster.”

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter wasn’t too confusing. Some parts are in the house, others in Jonathan’s memories. As always, your feedback is appreciated! Thanks!


	5. Concussions & Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang in the hospital.

There was nothing but blackness around, and frankly, that scared the shit out of him. The last thing Jonathan could recall was falling down a hill, struggling to breath, and wincing in astronomical amounts of pain. His world had become only darkness and himself, lying on a cold damp floor. 

With great effort, he stood and suddenly felt a rush of air being sucked from his chest, a sensation he couldn’t possibly describe. The smell was that of overly air conditioned must, sickness, and a hint of some off brand men’s cologne. 

Where was he? 

“Hello?” He spoke out, confused and disoriented. 

“Hello! Is anyone there? Hello!” He screamed in desperation. 

No answers. 

Was this how Nancy felt when she wandered into the upside down? Alone, cold, lost with no hope of finding a way out? What he would give to hear her voice, to follow it out to safety. 

Nancy. 

There was a special feeling he’d get in his heart and stomach when he thought about her. Physically, she was perfect. Her eyes shone with the brightest blue he’d ever seen, long eyelashes, and an innocence he wanted to protect. Her nose had the cutest, most delicate swoop he couldn’t live without. She was petite yet had spectacular fascinating curves that he wished he could photograph constantly. She was perfection. 

Mentally, she challenged him. Often times he was stubborn, defensive, afraid. He’d been mocked so often at school and by his old man that he spent most of his life criticizing himself, but she made him feel loved. She encouraged him to go out in the world and show his art, helped him mature. 

And then he yelled at her. 

Made fun of her dreams of being a reporter. 

His stomach twisted and flipped in his body, blood rising in his esophagus until it eventually poured out of his mouth onto the black ground.

He was guilty of being exactly like Lonnie. 

Yelling at Nancy, belittling her dreams, getting defensive as he did was a classic Lonnie move, and he hated it. Was he right to be upset with her, Sure. She got them fired and he needed the money for his family. But he didn’t have to say the things he did. 

They were so mean to her. 

He wasn’t blind: he could see the way they acted around her. When she walked in to the conference room their eyes traveled to specific places on her body, they made comments about breasts in front of her. They were pigs. 

No matter what she did, they treated her like the trash they made her clean up at the end of the night. And he did too. 

At so many points he could have stepped up and told them to knock it off, but he didn’t. He was supposed to protect the people he loved, and he was blind to it. 

He was supposed to protect his family. 

He didn’t protect Will when he was taken to the Upside Down, and didn’t assist in saving him either. 

He didn’t protect his mom or Bob from the demodogs, and they ended up killing Bob. 

He didn’t protect Nancy from those men who spent weeks making fun of her, objectifying her, and belittling her intelligence. 

Maybe Hopper was right. 

Maybe he was Lonnie Byers. 

...

A sad, disheveled group sat in the waiting room of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center waiting to hear something, anything. 

They’d done the impossible yet again; they saved Hawkins. It wasn’t easy, it never was, but as a team, a family, they took down the mind Flayer and Billy. 

“It’s been hours,” Will complained to his mother, “why don’t they tell us anything?”

Joyce had been thinking the same thing. The worst thing she had to do, the thing she’d regretted most that night, was dropping Jonathan off at the hospital and leaving with the group to go battle the mind Flayer, but she knew it was the only way to ensure her family’s safety. Hours later they returned by ambulance, all bruised and cut up but excited to see the man who quite possibly saved them all. 

If it hadn’t been for Jonathan running out of the house, they may not have won, and they certainly wouldn’t have been able to save Billy. 

While El, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Erica, Robin, and Steve all slept in the various waiting room chairs, a few individuals were still awake, thinking. 

Max contemplated the events of that evening, the fire in the mall, her step brother’s part in the whole event. It was difficult to live with him; he had so much rage and anger which he often took out on her. But then there was another side to him, a side she saw that evening where he protected Eleven from the Mind Flayer. Why did he do that?

He’d been possessed, yet his blood still ran warm. He’d been darkened yet his heart and soul were still light. It was confusing for her to decide how she felt about the step brother she was only beginning to get to know. 

And while he too lay in a hospital bed being treated for god only knew what, she decided that perhaps Billy wasn’t so bad. Perhaps he was misunderstood. 

Will sat, empty inside.

Why wasn’t Jonathan awake yet?

What was wrong?

He didn’t want to be around all those in the waiting room, and he certainly didn’t like the way they’d all been looking at him. It was like he was some kind of specimen they all had to observe. The questions were sure to surface shortly.

Nancy sat off in the corner away from all the others. Out of everyone in that room, she felt the worst. It was her fault Jonathan was hurt in the first place, and guilt overcame her. If they’d never gone to that stupid hospital, he would be in her arms at that moment. But he wasn’t. 

He wasn’t fine at all. 

She recalled rushing to his side, trying to find him in the heavily wooded forest. When she finally spotted him and attempted to make her way down the hill, she lost her footing and tumbled down on rocks and branches, breaking her nose and slamming into his back. 

It was enough to wake him, slightly. She could still hear the scream he let out, the significant amounts of pain he was feeling coursing through his body. 

Blood poured from her face, her eyes fuzzy, her world disoriented and shifting. In the distance was Billy effortlessly making his way over to where they were. 

With all the strength in his weak, exhausted body, Jonathan got to his feet and mindlessly picked Nancy up, stumbling a few feet up the hill before dropping back down to his knees. As gentally as he could, he placed Nancy on the ground and covered her completely with his body. 

He was shielding her from possible danger. 

“Jonathan! Jonathan!” She begged him, hopping to keep him awake. 

“I...I...lo...love you, N...Nance...” he managed to get out before becoming unconscious again. 

Stop. 

Stop thinking about it, she ordered herself as she realized she was in the hospital. He was gonna be fine, healthy, safe. He had to be. He was Jonathan Byers, he was always okay. 

He promised her he’d be all right, and Jonathan never broke a promise. 

Jim Hopper sat beside Joyce, contemplating the whole situation. Everyone was safe, he should feel some sort of relief, right? But he didn’t. There was a crushing weight on his chest that felt suspiciously like guilt. Jim wasn’t like the other people in that room, he couldn’t just sit around and think. He was a man of action, not a man of contemplation (though he often told Flo otherwise). 

Hopper rose to his feet, turned, and stumbled towards the door before Joyce grabbed his arm. 

“Where are you going?” She questioned him. He took a deep breath in. 

“I’m gonna go see what’s taking so long,” he informed her before walking off through the doors. 

...

“Can I help you?” A random nurse questioned as she noticed the chief wandering through the hospital. 

“Yeah I’m looking for-.” Hop began as he was interrupted. 

“Jim!” Dr. Owens exclaimed, “I was just gonna go out and talk to all of you.” 

“Hey doc,” Jim spoke, moving closer, “how’s he doing?” 

“Well, He has a badly punctured lung from his many broken ribs. I had to take a needle and suck out a lot of air from his chest. It was touch and go for a while and other than the fact that he has the stomach ulcers of an eighty year war veteran and one of the worst concussions I’ve seen to date, I’d say he’s gonna make a good recovery.

Hopper didn’t know what do say. He knew he should probably go grab Joyce and let her be the first to see Jonathan, but there was something he needed to do first. 

“Doc, before you get the family do you mind if I go in for a second?” 

Dr. Owens looked at the Chief peculiarly but nodded and allowed him into the hospital room to see the boy. 

“He might be out of it for a while,” the doctor explained, “like I said, he has a pretty bad concussion. But he should come to eventually.” 

“Thanks,” Hopper responded as he took the seat next to Jonathan, waiting for the doctor to leave. 

Finally, they were alone. 

“Hey kid,” Hopper spoke softly, a different tone than he normally used, “it’s me. I know you’re probably pretty pissed at me right now...not to say I’d blame you.”

Hopper took a long, contemplating pause as he gazed at the body in front of him. Jonathan was nothing more than a kid, a little boy just beginning his life. How could someone so young have been through so much? What reason did the universe have to pick that boy, that loyal, giving, faithful boy to curse with a deadbeat father, poverty, and misfortune? 

“I’m...I’m sorry. I’m just so sorry.”

The words didn’t seem to have enough meaning, and though he came in with the sole intention to speak those phrases, he found himself feeling like he needed to confess it all, purge his soul. 

“The truth is kid, I was wrong. I said you were acting like Lonnie because I didn’t...didn’t understand you. I didn’t see what you’d done for others. All I saw was a punk kid endangering minors while playing cop, when all you were really doing was what you’ve always done; protecting. I never...I never knew about what happened...”

Hopper could feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes and though he tried to fight back against them, he eventually had to give in to there power. 

“I was pissed at your mom and I took it out on you, just like your old man. I’m the one who’s no better than him. I heard it all, when El visited you...in your head...and I just...as a cop I’m ashamed that I never busted his head open, but as a man I’m horrified at the fact that something so evil could happen to a kid like you, a kid who lives to help others.” 

He wiped a tear from his eye and silently prayed that no one would witness his emotional weakness. 

“And then...when we came to find you I saw what you did for Nancy...well, you’re not even in the same universe as your old man. You’re a lot more like your mom,” he spoke with a chuckle, “a hell of a lot like your mother. You inherited your bravery, determination, heart, and stubbornness from her for sure.”

Silence. 

Hopper wiped the last tear from his eye before standing, readying himself to face the group. 

“I’m just sorry,” he spoke as he turned his back and moved towards the door. 

“...h...hhh...Hop?”

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t know where to continue with this, but I wanted to keep going. I hope you like it! Feedback is great and I also would love some creative prompts!

**Author's Note:**

> Jonathan is my favorite character, and he’s one of the strongest, always willing to put himself in front of danger characters on the show, so I wanted to make a story where he was weakened. I also wanted to write something where Will steps up and has to help Jonathan. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated!


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